12 April 2007

The 2016 Olympics - it's right around the corner. On Saturday the US Olympic Committee will decide whether their official entry for the 2016 Olympics will be Los Angeles or Chicago. With The Animal hailing from Chicago, and The Sheriff from Los Angeles, LIO thought it would be a great opportunity for a debate. Listen up USOC: One of us has the answer for you!

THE CASE FOR LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles has it all, and it's a no brainer to host in 2016. LA's got the experience. 1932, 1984, 2016. The numbers just mesh together so well. We've done it well twice before - and why mess with a good thing? Sure, spread the wealth to someone else, The Animal may whine. But we already did that. See: Atlanta '96 (and see how that went...).

LA has the infrastructure already in place to host a successful Olympics. The facilities in the Los Angeles are vast: the Coliseum, Rose Bowl, Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, Home Depot Center - to name a few. These venues aren't old and creaky. Sixty percent of the proposed facilities in LA's bid were not in existence at the time of the 1984 Games. This also includes new housing at UCLA and USC to house the athletes. Most importantly, having all of this together means that the games can go on with little impact on the tax-payers. There will be no need for any Olympic taxes, bonds, or anything of the sort. In fact, much of the funding will come from private sources. This leaves the citizens of Los Angeles to benefit from the games, with very little lost.

LA's biggest industry is Hollywood, and with that comes the glitz and glamour that it will lend to the 2016 games. Imagine the court-side view of a Laker game, and then imagine it for two weeks worth of games. Hollywood's presence will bring a cache' to the games that will lead to more attention. The 2016 games will be hip - a destination games like no other before it. Chicago couldn't replicate this. Who would they have, John Cusack and Mike Ditka shuttling between events? I don't think so.

LA has the weather. It's got the ocean. Summer in LA means sunny and warm. In Chicago? Hot, rainy, and humid. Have you been to Chicago in August? I have. You need air conditioning. Humid, humid, humid.

Finally, LA has Arnold on our side. Chicago, do you really want to mess with an Angry Governor Arnold?